October 2012

  • Washi Tape Matchbox For Chanukah!

    How about whipping up some fun washi tape matchboxes this fall, to enjoy this winter, or even as part of your holiday gift giving plans? They're so very simple to make, as you can guess, and oh so sweet! I haven't seen any washi tape in my little town, but of course saw lots of…

  • Elegant Macrame Beaded Bracelets, Who Knew?

    This past Shabbat we had a special visitor, a young woman from New York who I watched grow up and now she's watching my kids grow up! She happens to have great taste in jewelry and was sporting the exact same bracelet you see on the upper left. I was so surprised to see something…

  • Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

    Thanks so much for joining me for this exciting little get together with crafters from around the world. The list has changed a bit from last week, so pardon me while I name all the exciting places where our talented crafters reside! You know places like the United States, Australia, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, The Netherlands,…

  • Helping Kids Use Their Brains—A Little Lesson In Parental Involvement

    What is this you may ask? Well if you read Hebrew, then you will understand that this was a little exercise my ten year old daughter was asked to do as part of a low pressure art competition of sorts to kick off a new learning unit called "Moach Mavrik", namely sharp minds. Wondering myself…

  • Dutch Canal Houses Embroidered Table Runner, For Chanukah?

    I just love the idea of capturing the charm of Dutch canal house architecture with embroidery, don't you? This fabulous idea, shown in progress, is brought to you by Pam over at gingerbread snowflakes, and I can't wait to see the finished project! And thanks so much for Pam for not only contacting me, but…

  • A Visit To Delft, The Netherlands

    On a rainy Sunday just before Rosh HaShana we took the train from Amsterdam for a visit to the historic Dutch city of Delft. I enjoyed visiting Delft, and while certainly "Dutch" and charming the city has a much heavier feeling to it than say Haarlem, which I posted about here. These feelings could be…

  • The Royal Delft Factory And Museum

    What to do on the Sunday before Rosh Hashana in The Netherlands with two ten year old girls? How about a train ride to the historic Dutch town of Delft, and a visit to the Royal Delft Pottery Factory? Sounds good to me, even though we did board the train without tickets, much to my…

  • Saying Goodbye To The Succah

    Here's a little glimpse of what our Succah looked like this year…..something like Moroccan Casbah meets the Chinese circus in Mexico. Fun and colorful and put together at the last minute on account of two weeks in Europe prior to the holiday, (about which I'm certainly not complaining!) So while I did spend hours and…

  • Welcome To Craft Schooling Sunday!

    Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! Last week's party was packed with great projects from around the world, places like Australia, The United States, The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Jakarta, Singapore, Portugal, Macedonia, France, Canada and Switzerland! Today is the last day of the holiday of Succot in which we say goodbye to the beloved Succah, and…

  • Kid’s Diorama Craft Inspired By A Visit To The Art Museum

    On our visit to the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam we saw a really fun collection of diorama's that children in a museum art program created, and of course I just had to share them with you! Plus, how many travel photos can one see in a row? (Mind you I've got lots and lots more…

  • Haarlem, The Netherlands…..The Original!

    When visiting Amsterdam, I highly recommend taking a day, or even just a few hours, to visit the city of Haarlem, a beautifully preserved Dutch town with lovely canals and architecture as well as a significant and reknowned shopping area. if you happen to be traveling with those who'd prefer shopping to wandering around the…

  • The Portuguese Sephardic Synagogue In Amsterdam

    On this visit to Amsterdam I'm so happy to report that we did pay a very important visit to a stunning synagogue, completed in 1675 by Sephardic Jews originally from Spain!  Just a little background for you. Jews were expelled en masse from Spain in 1492, while  Jews were expelled from Portugal in 1497. Of course those…